Researchers have discovered the data of 10 million citizens of Chile has been leaked online in an exposure that puts over half the population of the country at risk.
Experts from Cybernews say the data originated from Caja Los Andes, a firm which provides Chileans with health insurance, loans, mortgages, and pension funds.
It is the largest Family Allowance Compensation firm in Chile, and employs nearly 3,000 people.
The fund was reported to have four million members in 2023, but the leaked data set contained details of over double that amount. This suggests the database includes family members, individuals who have switched providers, or those who may have passed away, explained Cybernews researchers.
“Leaked home addresses and financial details coupled in one leak make these people vulnerable to targeted robberies or physical threats. What’s more, they could become prime targets for scams and financial exploitation even without direct physical threats as there are plenty more PII, such as email addresses, that make this dataset a valuable target for phishing operations.”
The leak of the Apache Cassandra database was reportedly due to a lack of authentication. According to Chile’s data protection laws, the company responsible for leaking personal data could be subject to severe penalties, with fines that could reach up to 4% of its annual income and large scale lawsuits from affected individuals.
Protecting yourself
The news comes shortly after reports of one of the largest data breaches in history left almost three billion individuals vulnerable. Data breaches are all too common, and with so many different organizations holding everyone’s information, how can you keep your information safe?
Staying alert is the most important thing, especially being vigilant and changing your passwords often. For anyone concerned that their information may be exposed, Identity theft protection plans with dark web monitoring and credit monitoring make sure you are on top of any vulnerabilities as soon as they arise.
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